Page 1516 - Week 04 - Thursday, 29 March 2012
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As the Assembly is aware, the long service leave portable schemes provide access to long service leave to workers who may work in an industry for considerable periods of time, but who, because of the nature of the industry, change employer on a frequent basis.
The present legislation includes portable long service leave schemes for the building and construction industry, the contract cleaning industry and the community sector. All of these industries have dedicated long-term employees but, largely due to the contract nature of the work, employees often move from employer to employer.
The security industry is no different. Often a security officer will work at one location for a long period of time but will change employer as the security contract for that location changes. This is not unusual, and I am sure we will see it all happen again.
The security industry is an important industry in the territory performing a range of vital public safety services. Within the industry there are around 240 master licensees who engage over 2,500 workers. There is a high level of mobility within the security industry. As I said, in some instances a security worker can be performing the same function in the same location over a period of time but be engaged by more than one employer. These factors mean that security workers are less able to access long service leave due to difficulties in accruing enough service with one employer.
United Voice, a key security employee representative, points to a quarter of its membership that has worked in the industry between five and 10 years. It also highlights that more than three per cent of members have worked in the industry for more than 20 years. It is only fair for these workers to have access to a portable long service leave scheme for their service to the industry.
Long service leave under the general law is additional leave that the majority of workers are entitled to after a defined period of service, usually seven to 10 years. However, the general law requires the worker to stay with the same employer for the entire eligibility period. It is not a portable scheme.
It is only fair that workers who stay in the same industry and who are not entitled to employer-provided long service leave because of circumstances outside their control are able to access this type of leave as most other workers in Australia are entitled to do.
Portable long service leave allows a worker to accumulate their long service leave while employed or engaged to work within an industry sector rather than limiting their accrual to a single employer. The government is keen to support security workers by extending available leave entitlements to support their employment in this important service sector. This is about rewarding long-term employees with their entitlements. This is about being fair.
Members will recall that only recently we agreed to amend the Long Service Leave (Portable Schemes) Act. The amendments introduced a range of improvements to the administration of portable long service leave in the act. The government
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